The Thursday edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme Video is available in the player below, and on iTunes:
Beautiful views from our Skycam network this morning as the sun rises on a clear sky across Central Alabama. Clear but chilly. Temperatures once again into the upper 20s and lower 30s, but it appears that this will be the last freezing temperatures for 2006 as we continue to see a gradual warming trend. Afternoon highs today should threaten the 60-degree mark which will be about 6 to 8 degrees warmer than yesterday. Great day to get outside for some outdoor activities or perhaps rake those leaves – oh, gosh, did I suggest work? My bad!!!
Interesting weather pattern shaping up for Alabama for this weekend. A strong upper level low will move out of the Southern Rockies Friday and Saturday. As it does a storm system will form just east of the Rockies in Western Texas and Oklahoma. The storm system will track northeastward bringing a return of abundant Gulf moisture, good southerly wind, and a squall line with the potential for severe thunderstorms.
The squall line should be approaching the Mississippi River Saturday around noon reaching western Alabama by Saturday evening. This GFS run is just slightly slower than the one yesterday putting the thunderstorms into Central Alabama around the midnight hour. This will not be as favorable for severe weather since it will not coincide with the max heating. And there are still questions about the form of severe weather. This GFS run does not appear to have quite as favorable a jet pattern but the low level jet is still a screamer with 40 to 50 knots out of the south at 850 millibars.
Rainfall amounts could be substantial with widespread amounts of one inch with two to three inches possible in the heaviest thunderstorms. Rainfall amounts taper from the heaviest along the Gulf Coast to perhaps one half to one inch over the Tennessee Valley.
The question of the type of severe weather is still open. It would appear that the best threat is for severe thunderstorms with damaging wind, however, we could also see isolated tornadoes. It all depends on the small scale features and the degree of wind shear in the lowest few thousand feet of the atmosphere. I did note that the SPC discussion does not seem to match the SPC graphic for Day 3. The discussion mentions severe weather up to 200 miles inland of the Gulf Coast but the graphic does not seem to match that description. With what happened in Florida on Christmas Day this will be another system to keep an eye on.
The weather improves on New Years Day and into the first couple of days of the new year, but another round of wet weather looks possible into the 4th and 5th time frame. Temperatures remain seasonal for early January with lows around freezing and highs in the lower 50s.
Be sure to catch John Oldshue this afternoon and tonight on ABC 3340 and Jason Simpson tomorrow morning with Good Morning Alabama. I’ll have the next Weather Xtreme Video posted around 9 am Friday. Have a great day and enjoy the sunshine.
-Brian-
